Prologue

Dark books of magic and papers lay askew throughout the large, dimly lit study. The hour was nearing midnight but no answer had yet to be found. If it were a simple matter power, Veigar was certain he could have managed long ago. But no, as much as the people of Valoran wanted to believe the political arena was based on power and power alone, there was a certain degree of actual politics needed to rule the world. A book slammed shut, channeling his frustration on the subject into something far less destructive than, say, a primordial burst onto a useless inanimate object.

They'd never take him seriously. It was difficult enough to convince other yordles that he could destroy them at his whim… let alone humans. And for them to believe he could conquer all of Valoran? Impossible. No, Veigar was a joke. A short, high-pitched creature with a limp. Power alone could not unite the city-states. Not without entirely destroying them.

Standing, the yordle stretched , cracking his neck with closed eyes. It had been a long night, perhaps it was time to get some sleep. Though as he walked to the door, Veigar stopped to look over his large, worn map of Valoran on the wall. Would it ever be his? Or would he remain the laughing stock of the League forever?

No. No, he would rise. Rise in glory and power and respect and then no one… no army, no king, and certainly no prison guard would be able to touch him. But first, first he would have to capture the respect of the little people.

… perhaps it was time to return to his original plan. Only this time, no dart-blowing scout was going to get in the way.

Chapter One

When morning came, Veigar woke with a faint smile. The outline of his plan had been worked out late into night. It would not be easy. Last time he had been left too vulnerable by the simplicity. His ego had told him his plan was invulnerable. Never again.

It was after noon that he left at his usual time for a walk through the woods outside his home. It was a decrepit old thing, formally a library in some unknown era. Forgotten and left to time to rot in disrepair, none but Veigar knew of its existence. Even if they had, no yordle would dare enter. A clear sense of darkness surrounded the building. Dying trees, little sign of life. Best of all, the previous owner had clearly taken an interest in all things magic.

Traveling Northeast through the woods, Veigar let his mind wander back to the plan. He'd have to make a visit to Piltover, but he was quite certain he'd be able to find what he needed. At this point it was more a matter of research than anything and-

He paused, alert at the sound of a twig snapping. A moment later, a giggle. Shoot, what day was it? Tuesday. Of course. It was always on Tuesdays that-

"Hyah!" A blast of glittering purple from opposite directions pierced his coat, stinging lightly and slowing him to a near stop.

It was no matter of importance. It wasn't as if she could do any real damage. It was all fairies and glitter with this one. Yet.… He summoned an event horizon, paralyzing the sorceress. She only grinned. "Hope you weren't waiting long!" Veigar chuckled in his menacingly high voice. "I don't have the time to spar today, little girl."

When the spell released, the girl zoomed around to his opposite side, using her staff as a vehicle of sorts. "Where are you going, Veigar? Bandle City? Did you have any special plans? Were you going to try to steal something again?" The questions sputtered out as she landed her staff, spinning around to a finish. Her pesky little fairy followed behind, doing spins of his own before resting on the girl's ornate hat.

He was used to this. Long given up on fighting it. Whether the girl had been waiting or had noticed him by chance, the dark mage had no way of knowing. But her appearances were as frequent as they were painful. "My plans are of no concern to you."

"But it is! If you won't play with me, I should at least get to know why!" she laughed, trotting beside him as he hurried down the path. "Come on, you. Please? Pleeeeeease?"

He shot a halfhearted glare in her direction, all she'd be able to see beneath his enchanted hat. As always, it had no effect. "I'm much too busy to 'play,' girl."

Nonetheless the pleading continued. It was easy enough to tune out, given all the experience that had been forced upon him. But it was constant. "Please? What are you doing? Does it have something to do with Teemo? Cupcakes? Gift-shopping?"

He ignored it all, the only evidence of his weariness a slight twitch in his right eye.

"Veeeeigaaar! Oh fine, be that way!" There was a moment of silence, not even the sound of footsteps.

Finally!

"Fuzzy!"

His relief was shortlived. A fraction of a second later, the world had grown. Or, as evidenced by the purple, exposed fur he was now sporting, he had been transformed into one of those squirrels she so adored. "Squeak squee squee, Squeak!" he demanded, his threatening now more useless than before. He should have seen this coming. Lulu might not have killer instinct, but her magic was strong and her persistence unbendable. If he didn't want to fight, she'd make him.

The yordle-turned-squirrel manages a hiss, his point evident despite the language barrier she'd forced upon him.

"Oooh tsk, that's no way to talk, Mr. Fuzzy," she shook her head slowly, eyes closed. "Now. If you don't want to tell me, that's okay. We all have our secrets. I just don't think it's fair to cancel our plans without an explanation!"

"Squeak squeak sque-" right. Useless. Though somehow he had the feeling that even should he had said it in plain language it wouldn't get through to her. They had made no plans. They never made plans. She was the one stalking him through his forest nearly every Tuesday.

"I'm going to release you so you can talk, okay?" A moment later the spell lifted, Veigar returning to his usual yordle stature.

A choice word was thrown her way, making her gasp and shake her head again, a stubborn pout setting in. The fairy creature made a show of threatening gestures with its arms, but only served as an act of comedy due to his minute size.

"If you won't tell me, fight me!" she demands, apparently reaching her limit.

"Fight? I thought it was play time for you," he huffs, rolling his eyes as he set forward once more. He fully expected her to attack again, but he may as well make some distance in the mean time.

"Whoever said they weren't the same?" A stinging blast of glitter accompanied her odd taunt, followed by another, then another.

The next few moments were a mad jumble of stuns, slows, and glittering purple attacks. While he could go on almost endlessly with his fast-charging mana pool, Veigar had long-since grown weary. He had things to do, evil plans to make. Perhaps if he just ended it already. Put the crazed yordle out of her misery. But, he grimaced as he realized, he had already gone through this. She was a champion at the League. Not to mention, no real threat, only a real annoyance. It would be a waste of his power to-

Veigar's thoughts and rhythm are interrupted when all at once he was knocked to the ground, staff clattering beside him. She hung over him like a feral cat, bare hands narrowly avoiding his spiked armor as he glared upwards. "Would you kindly get off of me?" he shrieked, turning them over so he would dominate instead.

The girl laughed in response. "That was fun!"

Taken aback by her cheer, she was easily able to turn him back again with the help of her glittery slowing attack.

That's when it all went downhill… in the most literal sense. Pushing her off to turn on top once more, the two reached the hidden edge of the cliff. Tumbling, the girl let out a small shriek of fear, clinging tightly to her opponent. Landing with a clatter, their hold on each other released only after instinct allowed.

Veigar was the first to stand, the girl rubbing her sore, hatless head while blinking as her fairy buzzed down to fuss over her. "What just-?"

"You pushed us off that cliff!" Veigar growled, gauntleted hand thrust upwards to point to where he had spoken of. Truth be told, the word cliff might have been a little strong. The grade wasn't so steep that they shouldn't be able to manage their way back up . Hopefully.

Her sight followed his finger… then back to where he stood glaring at her menacingly. It was then the girl's face changed from confusion to pure awe as she stared at him.

"… What?" he snapped, staring right back.

"…. Nothing~" humming, the girl, clambered to her feet as the fairy completed one last lap around her before landing behind her ear.

Veigar's eyes rolled, thoroughly exasperated by the girl at this point. Now, where was his staff? … The top of the hill, of course. He hadn't had it on him on his way down. Though of course Lulu's had made the tumble. He begins looking around more, just in case when-

"Hi!" the girl was mere inches from his face, covered in dirt with a few minor scratches. She was still oddly fascinated as before. What was she on? And why hadn't he bothered to remove her?

"…"

Her giddy expression softened slightly. Inexplicably, he found her finger hovering just above his eyes and it finally clicked. His hat. He growled, jerking back before she could make contact. "No. No no no, you will never speak of this, do you hear me, girl?"

She blinked, hand dropping. "But Veeeigar, you look so much better like this! Why do you hide?"

He was searching wildly for his hat. Clearly it hadn't completed the fall. Scanning the brush and trees on the hill a tuft of blue feathers stuck out, marking where to go. "I don't want to look better, fool!" he snaps at her, looking angrier than before. She had seen him. Fur, scars, and all.

"What's that even supposed to mean?" she follows after him, grabbing her hat and whimsying up the hill effortlessly floating beside him.

While her question had merit, his exclamation had been a gut reaction more than anything, he did not care to answer. Instead, Veigar grasped at a root a short ways up.

"It didn't make any sense!" she continues to chide him.

Of course she wouldn't drop it. "It means," he hissed, "that my appearance is none of your business." His hold slipped, sending the yordle sliding several feet. "Gah!"

"Hmmm," Lulu came to land on a large rock half way up. "You want your hat back, right?"

He grumbled something unintelligible in response.

"Probably your staff back too, huh? And return to the path so you can get to your very important cupcake heist you were planning."

"I wasn't going to steal any cupcakes," he growled upwards, reaching the spot he had been in before. Now, if he only went for this root instead, perhaps he could make it this time.

"Hey!"

Startled, he missed, slipping once more. "WHAT?!"

"I asked you a question, Mr. Grumpy-pants."

"What?"

Tutting, she shook her head. "I only thought that maaaybe you'd like a little help. But not if you're going to be mean," she pouted, sitting herself with legs and arms crossed.

Would he accept help? Probably, if she had given it wordlessly. But to make him beg? "I don't need your help."

"Sure you don't."

He was almost to the same spot again. This time, this time he would succeed in climbing it. Just a little further and… there! Grinning, Veigar pulled the rest of his body up to the next handhold, finding a solid enough landing for his feet. "Yes! Hahahaha!"

Veigar continued upwards, paying the girl no mind until he was level with her, and only then to spare her a wary glance at her slack-jawed expression. She had been silent for a short while now. Odd. After passing her by, a rush of wind from behind could be felt as the girl shouted out, "Zippy!" She stopped by his hat, pulling it out for herself. "I've always like your hat," she grinned, looking it over, and under, and all around before dropping it on her head. The enchantment kicked in, darkening her face and brightening her already bright green eyes.

"Leave it alone, girl!"

"I have a name, you know," she mutters, pouting slightly as she took it off.

"I fail," a reach for the next branch, "to see the relevance."

"I call you by your name. Or would you rather me just call you, say…" she pauses to think, "Kitty!"

A disgusted sound comes forth. She wouldn't dare.

"Kitty it is!"

… of course she would dare. She knew no fear.

"Fine, Lulu. Drop the hat!"

"Okay!" The girl grinned, dropping his hat back into the bush… to watch it tumble all the way down the hill.

…

"LULU!"

For the briefest of moments, a stricken look of panic crossed the girl's face. "I'll get it, I'll get it, don't worry! Just just um keep climbing up, okay? Don't worry!" With that, Lulu zipped back down, then up, dropping the hat at the top next to his staff. Clearly she could have made the trip a hundred times over in the time it was taking him. "See! Easy. It's safe up here. Now we just need to get you up too! Sure you don't want the spell?"

"I'm sure I'll never need your brand of help again."

"Okay~"

For the next few minutes, there was blessed silence as Veigar climbed. Lulu lay at the top, her own hat retrieved and resting where it belonged. Her eyes closed, resting as she waited. When he surfaced, covered in dirt and fresh scratches, he marched directly to collect his belongings. By the time Lulu looked up, his face was already veiled. "Aww," she pouted in disappointment.

His eerie glowing eyes looked to her on the ground sharply, then away. There was no reason to bother with her now. "Never again," he reminds her.

"Never what?"

He summoned an event horizon as he hobbled off, holding it as long as he could to prevent her from following. Never again.